Accountancy and College of Business students heard from an inspirational speaker who focused on motivating them through the semester and life.

John O’Leary, an inspirational speaker who visited NIU in 2010, came back Wednesday to motivate more students.

“Love Don Tidrick, the professionalism and the vibe from NIU,” O’Leary said.

O’Leary has been an inspirational speaker since 2005. Since then he has partnered with 850 organizations in 46 states and nine countries, according to his website, rising-above.com.

“I do these events for an opportunity to impact someone like so many [have] impacted me,” O’Leary said.

At 9 years old, O’Leary was burned on 100 percent of his body. After that he went through months in the hospital, lost all of his fingers to amputation and underwent years of therapy. This experience is what he uses to motivates others in his presentations.

“[I came here tonight] because I heard he was an amazing speaker and wanted to see for myself,” said junior accounting major Kevin Karas.

O’Leary said he customizes his speeches thinking of the end goal, the audience and where they want to go even if they don’t know where that is.

“[What I got from his presentation] was to be happy to live life, find a purpose no matter what,” said junior accounting major Eddy Chan. “It left me with a feeling of what more can I do and it’s something that will follow me into next year and probably the rest of my life.”

O’Leary has received such rewards as Members Choice Speaker Award from Vistage International and the St. Louis University Distinguished Young Alumni Award and he is an Energizer “Keep Going” Hall of Fame inductee.

“[The most memorable experience I’ve had at one of my presentations] was a high school kid shared that his brother was killed by a drunk driver. Before the event he wanted to find and kill the murderer; after the event he wanted to find and forgive the murderer,” O’Leary said.